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Police in Thai Nguyen said Monday they had arrested a former police officer suspected of orchestrating an attack on a television reporter who exposed illegal mining activities in the northern province, news website VnExpress reported.

Pham Anh Huy, 23, is the alleged mastermind behind the attack on Nguyen Ngoc Quang, 44, deputy chief of the news desk at Thai Nguyen Radio and Television Station, local police said.

Huy was used to be a police officer but he was dismissed in February last year due to some undisclosed violations.

He was arrested last Saturday while hiding in a hospital in Hanoi.

Huy told the police he wanted to take revenge on Quang as his family’s gold mining business lost its license following Quang’s stories that exposed illegal gold mining operations in Thai Nguyen's Vo Nhai District. The story was also broadcast on the national network Vietnam Television (VTV).

On September 4, 2015, when Quang was driving himself and his wife to work in their car, the duo, who wore masks and crash helmets, blocked his car with their motorbike and used a hammer to break the driver's winder.

Pham Anh Huy in a photo released by the police.

As Quang and his wife ran away, the men chased after them and attacked Quang with knives, leaving him wounded on his shoulders, back, and arms.

They only fled after the couple hid in a nearby house.

Huy secretly followed his friends and watched the attack, according to police.

Hau and The were arrested two weeks later.

After they revealed Huy’s role in the attack, local police searched for Huy but he fled the province. He was arrested last weekend.